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HISTORY  OF  THE  NORTH  CAROLINA  RAILROAD 


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THE  COLLECTION  OF 
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T/1PERS  OF  THE 
eN'optl\   C^polirja    oMistopieaa    (§)o@iettj 

AT  THE 
UNIVERSITY     OF     NORTH    CAROLINA. 


HISTORY  OF  THE  NORTH  CAROLINA  RAILROAD, 


BY 


HON.    RUFUS    BARRINGER, 

OF    CHARLOTTE. 


IRead  before  the  Society  at  Chapel  Hiil,  May  iO,  1894, 


RALEIGH: 
N'evvs  and  Observer  Press. 


Ck    3>  ^~.  I 


Digitized  by  the  Internet  Archive 

in  2012  with  funding  from 

University  of  North  Carolina  at  Chapel  Hil 


http://www.archive.org/details/historyofnorthcaOObarr 


BISTORT    OW  TBK    NORTH   CARO- 
LINA  BAlLliOAD. 


BT  OEN.    B.    B1REINGEB 

The  building  of  an  ordinary  rail- 
road ie  now  no  longer  a  matter  of 
special  interest  to  the  public.  Of 
late  sears,  the  achievements  in  that 
way  h»ve  bean  on  such  a  gigantic 
scale  98  almost  to  cease  to  attract 
attention.  But  the  grant  of  the 
charter  of  the  Worth  Oarolmft  Rail- 
road in  1848-9  with  two  million  ol 
dollars  of  State  aid,  was  a  new  de- 
parture amongst  us,  and  was,  in 
fact,  the  basis  end  the  beginning  of 
cur  entire  present  system  of  in- 
ternal improvement,  now  reaching 
and  intersecting  6very  part  of  the 
State. 

The  Cbsir  of  History  at  the  State 
University  has  therefore,  done  well 
to  make  the  building  of  this  great 
"Central"  line,  as  it  was  loagcallsd, 
one  of  its  subjects  of  historic  re- 
search and  study.  I  have  myself, 
too,  selected  it  as  such,  because  I 
think  the  changes  then  set  in  mo- 
tion, tend  to  explain  better  than 
anything  else  the  previous  leth- 
argy of  our  people,  and  also  the 
causes  of  the  wonderful  ac- 
tivity now  seen  and  felt  in  all 
clasaea  amongst  us.  I  likewise  select 
this  subject,  partly,  because  I  was 
an  actor  in  the  vital  legislative 
changes  then  effected,  and  I  happen 
to  know  that  some  important  errors 
prevail  in  regard  to  the  real  authors 
of  that  great  measure  I  was  at 
that  thm  a  member  of  the  "House 
of  Commons,"  as  it  was  then  called, 
from  the  county  of  Cabarrus,  and  £ 


thick  I  was  well  posted  as  to  all 
matters  so  especially  affecting  the 
interests  of  my  constituents. 

The  subject  has  certain  inherent 
difficulties, which  have  never  before, 
so  far  as  I  know,  been  discussed  in 
the  spirit  of  true  historical  criticism 
and  analytic,  and  I  approach  it 
with  some  diffidence,  because  it  in- 
volves times  and  occasions  of  much 
sectional,  political  and  personal  an- 
imosity and  strife,  which,  for  vari 
ous  reasons,  our  leading  men  have 
heretofore  been  reluctant  to  agitate. 
But  the  time  has  now  fully  come 
for  impartial  research  for  the  truth, 
and  I  feel  that  the  learned  Professor 
of  History  at  Chapel  Hill  will  give 
credit  for  an  honest  attempt  to 
solve  the  problem  of  the  marvellous 
changes  referred  to  on  the  simple 
deduction  of  logical  results  from 
the  facts  and  figures  I  shall  give.  If 
I  sometimes  seem  to  speak  in  the 
critical  tone  of  impatient  progress, 
and  to  denounce  somewhat  strongly 
the  "terrapin  p&cs  of  onr  Old  Rip 
Van  Winkleism,"  i  am  s  ".  Dr.  Bat- 
tle will  understand  thav  J  j^ean 
nothing  unkind  to  either  the  dead 
or  the  living;  and  that  I  started  in 
public  life,  over  fifty  years  ago,  a 
"born  Whig  Reformer"  My  first 
public  speech  was  in  Grerrard  Hall  in 
1841,  on  the  "Iniquities  of  the 
English  Opium  Trade  in  China," 
an  evil  now  threatening  America  as 
well. 

A  HISTOBICAL  BETE08PECT, 

To  get  at  the  poverty  of  the  State 
in  1848,  and  to  show  the  difficulties 
to  be  encountered  and  overcome  by 
the  friends  of    Internal    Improve- 


<L, 


4 


HISTORY  OF  THE 


ment  and  general  Reform,  it  is  nec- 
essary to  recur  to  the  strange  anom- 
alies of  the  organic  law  under  which 
we  had  lived  in  North  Carolina  for 
three  fourths  of  a  century,  and  the 
endleis  sectional  strife  thus  en- 
gendered. It  will  also  then  appear 
how  these  difficulties  vanished,  the 
moment  a  true  American  leader 
struck  the  cord  of  popular  senti 
ment;  and  an  honest  conv  ction 
touched  the  North  Carolina  heart. 

In  1790,  North  Carolina  was  the 
third  State  in  the  Union  in  popula- 
tion and  wealth.  By  the  census  of 
1840,  she  had  declined  to  the  rela- 
tive place  of  the  eleventh.  Why 
was  this?  Is  it  possible  to  trace 
clearly  the  causes  of  this  decline? 
I  shall  attempt  to  do  so;  and  the 
present  generation  cf  our  young 
people  will  be  uurprised  to 
leatn  that  the  first  ei  *n  of  real  Pro- 
gress and  Reform  carae  from  a  bold 
Western  statesman  from  the  new 
State  of  Illinois,  Judge  Stephen  A. 
Douglas,  about  1847,  then  in  this 
State  in  s-  roh  cf  a  wife  Singu- 
lar! y  too,'  .is  visit b  here  were  follow- 
lowed  the  next  year,  1848,  by  one 
of.  mercy  from  a  renowned  philan 
thropist,  Miss  Dorothea  L.  Dix,  of 
Massachusetts,  on  the  then 
seemingly  hopeless  mission  of  pro- 
viding for  the  care  and  the  cure  of 
the  insane. 

I  frankly  admit  that,  apparently, 
these  matters  seem  quite  incongru- 
ous to  the  subject  in  hand,  and  yet 
I  shall  show  that  Judge  Douglas  and 
Miss  Dix  each  helped  to  pave  the 
way  for  the  grant  of  the  Charter  for 
the  North  Carolina  Railroad. 


The  entering  wedge  was  when 
the  'Little  Giant  of  the  West"  told 
"Little  Davy  Reid"  that  the  old 
English  Constitution  of  1776,  under 
which  our  State  of  North  Carolina 
lived,  was  a  fraud  on  Popular  Sov- 
ereignty, and  "Little  David"  and 
the  wily  W.  W  Holden  horrified  the 
old  Hunker  Democracy  of  East 
North  Carolina,  with  the  startling 
dogmas  of  "Free  Suffrage,  and  Pro- 
gress 1 ' 

The  true  connection  of  these  re- 
mote and  widely  separated  events 
can  only  be  fully  seen  by  the  aver- 
age voter  of  today,  ty  recounting 
truly  the  history  of  the  noted  Con- 
stitution of  1776,  and  the  evils  it 
entailed.  That  instrument  has  been 
persistently  lauded  here  in  North 
Carolina  as  a  Palladium  of  Liberty; 
and.  in  the  main  essentials  of  indi- 
vidual Right  and  Freedom,  as  also 
in  its  early  recognition  of  both  com- 
mon education  and  advanced  cul- 
ture, it  deserves  all  praise.  But  at 
the  same  time  it  laid  restrictions  on 
freedom  of  conscience;  on  the  great 
right  of  suffrage,  and  especially  on 
a  1  just  legislative  representation, 
utterly  inconsistent  with  the  Bill  of 
Rights  preceding  the  Constitution 
itself,  and  wholly  fatal  to  real  free 
thought  and  wise  public  action. 

THE  CONSTITUTION    OF    1776— HOW 
ADOPTED, 

What  was  this  Constitution  ?  and 
what  the  special  provisions  com- 
plained of,  and  how  came  it  to  be 
adopted  ? 

At  the  time  the  Provincial  Con- 
vention met  at  Halifax  in  November, 


NORTH  CAROLINA  RAILROAD. 


1776,  to  organize  the  State  govern- 
ment, and  to  frame  a  Constitution, 
blood  had  already  been  shed,  and 
all  parts  of  the  Province  were  alive 
with  effort  to  secure  soldiers,  to  ob- 
tain arms  and  the  munitions  of  war, 
and  to  equip  and  maintain  troops. 
It  was  no  time  to  frame  organic 
laws,  or  to  attempt  to  draft  consti- 
tutions. In  this  emergency,  it  was 
very  natural  that  the  fathers  should 
still  look  to  Eogland  for  the  essen- 
tial principles  of  Anglo  Saxon  free- 
dom. Their  quarrel  was  not  bo 
much  with  England  and  the  Eng- 
lish Constitution  as  it  was  with  an 
udj  let  Parliament  and  a  tyrant 
King.  They,  therefore,  here  in 
North  Carolina,  still  took  the  Eng- 
lish Constitution  as  their  guide ; 
but,  with  many  of  its  best  features, 
they  unfortunately  followed  some 
of  the  worst.  Among  others  it  re- 
quired a  propertv  qualification  of 
£1,000  for  the  Governor,  a  land 
qualification  f~>r  both  the  State 
Senators  and  the  Commoners:  the 
former  three  hundred  acres,  and  the 
latter  one  hundred,  and  a  free-hold 
of  fifty  acres  for  every  voter  for  the 
Senate.  They  also  adopted  a  fixed 
rule  for  the  numbers  of  both  bodies 
—  one  Senator  and  two  Con  toners 
from  each  county:  with  a  Borough 
member  from  each  of  the  towns  of 
Edenton,  Halifax,  New  Bern,  Wil- 
mington, Hillsboro  and  Salisbury: 
all  without  regard  to  eize  or  popu- 
lation, and  not  providing  for 
changes  which  must  surely  come. 

Still  further:  They  made  no 
safe  or  practicable  provision  for 
amending  the  written  Constitution 


thus  adopted,  nor  for  correcting  the 
possible  evils  sure  to  arise  in  its 
operation ;  but,  manifestly,  here 
again,  pimply  following  the  un- 
written English  model,  and  leaving 
all  to  the  General  Assembly,  so  con- 
stituted— as  Parliament  is  supreme 
in  Great  Britain  As  most  of  the 
talent,  wealth,  population  and  cul- 
ture then  lay  in  the  East,  it  gave 
that  section  a  decided  preponder- 
ence  of  influence  and  po^er,  notably 
so  to  the  small  counties  around  Albe- 
marle Sound.  And  this  thing  did  so 
continue  for  over  sixty  years;  while 
the  large  counties  of  the  Middle  and 
West  increased  rapidly  in  both 
numbers  and  wealth,  and  many 
Eastern  counties  not  increasing  at 
all  except  in  slaves.  Another  strange 
provision  was  the  singular  religious 
test,  forbidding  Roman  Catholics, 
Jews,  and  other  non  jurors  from 
holding  public  office  or  trust !  But 
the  adoption  of  this  test  shows  the 
intense  bigotry  with  which  all  par- 
ties and  creeds  st:'l  clung  to  Eng- 
lish supremacy,  and  Protestant 
sway,  as  against  Spanish  and  French 
Catholics,  Infidels,  and  all  non- 
believers.  A  quaint  and  heroic  il- 
lustration of  the  noble  patriotism 
of  the  times,  is  the  fact  of  the  old 
covenanter,  Ben  Patton,  as  early  as 
as  1774,  walking  all  the  way  from 
Mecklenburg  to  the  Provincial  Con- 
gress at  Newborn,  to  join  hands 
with  the  High  Churchman,  John 
Harvey,  in  his  sturdy  struggle  with 
Boyal  Power.  But  it  should  always 
be  borne  in  mind  that  the  colonies 
had  just  a  few  years  before  come 
out    triumphantly    from    the  war 


HISTORY  OF  THE 


that  drove  France  from  North 
America,  and  that  with  all  hnv  faults, 
at  heart,  "they  loved  old  England 
still".  It  was  also  the  heroism  of 
Wolfa  and  the  msitcoless  a  atwem^n- 
ship  of  Chatham  that  gave  them  en- 
during peace;  and,  with  all  danger 
now  removed  alike  from  French 
and  Spanish  and  Indian,  Indepen- 
dence was  a  special  and  distinct 
Eentiment  of  very  recent  growth. 

AFTER   EFFECTS 

The  war  over  and  ladependenee 
won,  many  minds  instinctively 
turned  to  the  Constitution  and  gov- 
ernment under  which  they  lived 
They  f?ocn  began  to  realize  the 
drawbacks  surrounding  them;  and 
a  steady  emigration  started  for  the 
promiticg  State  of  Frankland,  and 
the  "darfe  and  bloody  ground  of 
Kentucky",  whtra  Sevier,  Boone, 
Shelby,  Henderson  and  others  of 
North  Carolina  fame  were  planning 
to  "win  the  West"  Still  North 
Carolina  held  her  own,  and  at  the 
date  of  the  first  census  1790,  as 
stated,  she  was  j  the  third  of  the 
"Old  Thirteen";  only  Pennsylvania 
and  Virginia  outranking  her.  But 
now  come  other  troubles. 

THE  FEDERAL    UNION    CF    1789  -  ITS    EF 
EECTS    THEN. 

While  the  Union  of  1789,  was  of 
countless  benefits  and  blessings  to 
the  country  at  large,  the  wisest  men 
in  North  Carolina  readily  saw  its 
tendencies  to  centralized  power; 
and  they,  at  first,  promptly 
declined  to  adopt  the  Federal  Com- 
pact. They  had  already  realized 
this    in    their    State  Constitution. 


And  now  Will'e  -Tones  o*  the  East 
end  Joe  McDowell  o*  the  West  stood 
shoulder  to  shoulder  in  resisting 
the  adoption  of  the  National  Con- 
stitution, until  no  less  than  eleven 
amendments,  mainly  suggested  by 
North  Carolinia,  had  been  practi' 
cally  assented  to  by  the  accepting 
States.  But  even  these  could  not 
effectually  guard  against  the  dan- 
gers of  implied  construction;  and 
»ow  again  the  people  of  both  the 
East  and  the  West  found  their  in- 
terests assailed  in  many  wajs  not 
dreamed  of  before 

OLA*  S  AND  SE0TIONAL  LEGISLATION. 

From  the  very  first,  the  whole 
system  of  Federal  bounties,  subsi- 
dies, drawbacks,  and  other  so  call- 
ed protective  measures  by  Con 
grsss,  tended  to  antagonizs  and  in- 
jure like  fnterestn  cere.  At  that 
time,  say  1790,  North  Carolina  was 
largely  engaged  in  fishing  and  coast 
trade;  her  numerous  sounds  and 
rivers  and  sffiuent  streams  giving 
her  superior  advantages  So  she  had 
extensive  foundries,  many  kinds  of 
mills,  tanneries,  hatter  and  other 
ebops,  all  sorts  of  handicrafts  and 
other  skilled  industries;  and  so  suc- 
cessful were  they  that  she  not  only 
supplied  her  own  domestic  wants, 
but  sent  a  large  surplus  to  her  less 
enterprising  neighbors  of  Virginia 
and  South  Carolina  All  at  once 
these  scattered  and  struggling  in- 
dustries were  brought  in  sharp  com-' 
petition  with  those  of  the  greater 
Bkiil,  and  with  the  organized  capi- 
tal of  the  North  and  East;  and  ulti- 
mately all  declined.  True  the  whole 
South  by  clinging  to  simple  agrr- 


NORTH  CAROLINA   RAILROAD. 


culture  and  to  slave  labor  may  Lave 
committed  gtosa  error.  But  recent 
experience  shows  that  no  sort  of 
agriculture,  and  not  even  combined 
free  labor,  can  stand  up  against 
class  powsr  and  patronage,  once 
protected  by  law  And  yet  in  this 
way  North  Carolina  was  doubly 
bound  and  cursed  And  while  she 
Buffered  along  with  the  South  in 
general  from  national  legislation, 
certain  census  facts  and  figures 
show  that  other  influences,  peculiar 
to  herself,  unquestionably  kept  her 
under  Compare  her  with  Georgia 
for  instance.  That  State  was  also 
one  of  the  "original  thirte3n  "  As 
tested  by  population  from  1790  to 
1840,  North  Carolina  had  not  dou- 
bled a  single  time,  while  Georgia 
had  nine  times;  and  so  with  Ten- 
nessee and  Kentucky,  neither  of 
them  in  existence  as  States  in  1790, 
but  both  leading  her  in  wealth  aud 
population  in  1840. 

Now  the  question  is  forced  back 
upon  us  by  these  facts  and  figures. 
Why  did  North  Carolina,  with  her 
superior  climate  and  her  attractive 
lands,  as  places  for  homes;  with  her 
unrivalled  water  power,  and  her 
endless  variety  of  productions  and 
industries,  including  valuable  fruits, 
forests  and  minerals,  alike  in  the 
Middle,  the  East  and  the  West — 
why  did  she  alone  steadily  de- 
cline ? 

STATE  SECTIONAL  STRIFE 

All  the  facts  show  that,  while 
hostile  national  legislation  may 
have  had  some  effect  in  producing 
this  great  decline,  it  is  equally  clear 
that  other    causes    had    the    more 


serious  and  lasting  influence  on  the 
pbople.  And  an  examination  of  the 
history  of  the  S»ate  will  <3ia3lose  the 
fact  that  from  1776  to  1848,  the  Leg- 
islature was  one  continued  scene  of 
angry  wrangle  and  strife  between 
whaf  was  known  as  the  East  and 
the  West,  Wnat  was  more  dis- 
astrous, was  the  f*ot  that  the  State 
had  no  overshadowing  or  control 
ling  interests  or  high  sentiment  that 
would  tend  to  allay  the  strife,  or 
unite  parties  or  people  in  any  prac 
tioal  steps  of  Progress,  or  State 
Reform  This  was  iatal  to  true 
State  pride  and  to  all  real  develop- 
ment More  than  this:  its  direct 
effect  was  to  discourage  in  her  lead 
iag  men  ail  thought  or  study  of 
State  issues,  and  to  induce  them  to 
turn  rather  to  the  temptations  of 
party  patronage  and  the  more  at- 
tractive honors  of  National  Politics. 
And  here  as  a  rule,  they  generally 
played  a  seeonoary  role.  In  the 
long  period  of  seventy  two  years 
there  were  no  leading  State  issutK 
presented  to  the  people  of  North 
Carolina  I  do  not  of  course  in- 
clude the  Convention  of  1835,  be- 
cause that  was  a  body  of  only  lim- 
ited power  or  influence. 

Let  us  now  turn  to  the  historical 
facts,  and  see  what  were  the  gen- 
eral subjects  of  debate  and  agita- 
tion in  that  eventful  formative  pe- 
riod from  1776  to  1848  They  were 
almost  invariably  of  a  petty,  narrow 
or  local  class,  though  occasionally 
important. 

NEW  COUNTIES. 

One  of  the  first  and  an  ever  re- 
curring   source  of    complaint  and 


8 


HISTORY  OF  THE 


annoyance  was  the  erection  of  new 
counties.  This  was  in  truth,  how 
ever,  a  most  serious  matter  to  those 
interested.  Often  the  citizens  had 
to  travel  hundreds  of  miles  to  at- 
tend to  the  most  ordinary  public 
and  private  duties;  either  to  return, 
or  to  pay  taxes,  to  settle  estates,  to 
secure  a  right,  or  to  prevent  a 
wrong,  or  even  to  guard  the  peace. 
The  average  citizen  of  today  has  no 
conception  of  the  extent  of  this 
grievance  in  1776  and  for  Bixty  years 
following  Besides,  it  prevented 
the  Middle  and  West  from  aoquir 
ing  their  due  and  proper  influence 
in  the  legislature  and  in  the  govern- 
ment. Tney  were  steadily  increas 
ing  in  population  and  wealth,  and 
yet  the  East  persistently  denied 
them  relief,  and  they  were  helpless 
to  demand  either  right  or  justice  at 
the  bands  of  a  General  Assembly, 
virtually  controlled  by  a  dozen 
eastern  counties.  It  is  painful 
now  to  recall  the  facts  of  the 
various  artifices  and  devices  re- 
sorted to  in  order  to  over- 
come obstacles  and  gain  special 
objects  A.  favorite  plan  was  to 
touch  the  pride  of  the  East  and  play 
upon  the  vanity  of  some  leading 
member  of  the  legislature  As  a 
result,  we  have  in  the  Middle  and 
West  counties  called  after  Eastern 
men  of  no  special  force  or  great  re- 
pute. Among  others  the  following 
counties  were  named  in  honor  of 
living  public  men  from  the  East,  or 
from  sections  voting  with  the  East, 
largely  because  of  slave  property: 
Burke,  Caswell,  Iredell,  Cabarrus, 
Ashe,     Moore,    Person,  Haywood, 


Macon  and  Yanoy;  and  after  de- 
ceased Eastern  men,  are  Buncombe, 
Davie,  Gaston  and  Stanly 

SKAT    OF    GOVERNMENT  —  RIVER      NAVIGA- 
TION. 

For  some  years  after  1776,  the 
place  of  meeting  for  the  general 
assembly  was  migratory;  and  annual 
disputes  were  had  ovt.r  New  Bern, 
SaaithfieJd,  Fayetteville  and  Hills- 
bore,  the  Wfst  always  '-lsiming 
Hilleboro.  But  about  i795'this  w<  s 
settled  by  the  removal  to  Baleigh. 
Then  tor  long  dreary  years  there 
was  no  new  question  of  importance 
to  break  the  monotony  of  Email 
strife,  until  the  West  sought  to  open 
up  its  rivers,  and  build  looks 
and  dams  to  make  them  navigable. 
After  the  complete  fu^cess  of  the 
Grand  Eii<  Canal,  thta-,  for  a  tiaoe 
were  a  peifeot  rage  in  the  Middle 
and  West,  headed  c  iefly  by  Judge 
A.  D.  (Hurpbey.  The  East  had  no 
need  for  such  works  and  so  would 
do  nothing.  The  leading  men  of 
that  section,  had  early  adopted  the 
theory  of  a  strict  construction  of  the 
Federal  Constitution  on  this  sub- 
ject, and  now  applied  it  to  State 
improvement  Companies  were  or- 
ganized for  so  improving  the  Ca- 
tawba, Yadkin,  Deep  and  Haw  riv- 
ers, and  much  private  capital  spent 
and  all  ultimately  lost,  because  the 
State  would  not  aid 

EDUCATION  AND  RAILROADS. 

A  gain  the  Middle  and  West  called 
for  better  educational  facilities,  and 
here  again  the  East  opposed.  Some 
did  not  care  for  education  and  oth- 
ers sent  their  children    North    or 


NORTH  CAROLINA  RAILROAD. 


arrjad  for  culture  Then  it  was 
about  1825-1826,  that  the  West,  in 
a  body,  regardless  of  creed,  place 
or  party,  resolved  to  start  a  "West 
ern  College,"  and  actually  located 
the  same  at  Linuolnton.  Tuis, 
too,  failed,  but  remotely  it  led  to 
Davidson  College  and  other  denomi- 
national colleges  A  little  later  Dr. 
Joseph  Caldwell,  president  of  the 
University  at  Chapel  Hill,  wrote  his 
famous  'Carlton  Letter*,"  urging  a 
State  Railroad  fsom  Beaufort  bar 
bor  in  the  East,  right  through  the 
State  to  the  mountains  of  the  Weot. 
Even  here  the  Ewt  refused  to  move, 
and  the  scheme  came  to  naught 
Though,  later  the  Middle  and  the 
Eist  themselves  used  the  credit  cf 
the  State  to  build  the  Raleigh  and 
Gaston,  the  Wilmington  and  Wei- 
•  don  (or  Raleigh)  and  the  Weldon 
and  Petersburg  roads,  all  practi- 
cally leading  out  of  the  State. 

THE  CONVENTION  OF  1835. 

But  during  all  this  time,  the  one 
irritating,  all  pressing  question  of 
the  West  was  a  regular  demand, 
made  year  after  j  ear,  for  the  legis- 
lature to  call  a  convention  to  revise 
and  amend  the  State  Constitution. 
No  argument.no  appeal  could  reach 
the  small  olligarohy  that  controlled 
that  body.  At  last  an  event  oc- 
curred in  1834  that  brought  the 
whole  subject  of  a  revision  of  the 
organic  law  most  forcibly  before 
the  public.  In  that  year, 
there  was  a  vacancy  in  the 
Supreme  Court  of  the  State.  Ac- 
cording to  custom,  the  middle  East 
was  entitled  to  tbe  man;  and  he  was 


found  at  Newbern  in  the  Hon  Wil 
Ham  GastoD,  too  lawyer  of  highest 
repute  and  of  most  culture  in  the 
State  He  way,  besides,  personally 
very  popular  all  over  North  Caro- 
lina, and  of  some  reputation  as  a 
debater  in  Congress  j-ist  after  the 
war  of  1812,  which  brought  oompli 
ments  from  Haury  Clay  and  others 
But  William  Gaston  was  an  avowed 
Roman  Catholic  Despite  this  he 
was  elected;  and,  as  there  were  now 
strong  doubis  as  o  the  exact  mean- 
ing of  the  famous  thirty-second  ar- 
ticle of  the  State  Constitution-  and 
Gaston  himself  thought,  he  was  not 
excluded,  the  sentiment  was  uni- 
versal in  favor  of  his  acceptance. 
He  did  so;  and  took  the  usual  oath 
of  offioe.  This,  as  never  before, 
subjected  the  Constitution  of  1776 
to  popular  criticism  The  Legisla- 
ture yielded;  and  a  Convention  was 
called,  and  met  in  1835;  but  with 
only  limited  powers  to  make  certain 
specified  amendments.  These  em 
braced  substantially  the  abro- 
gation of  the  offensive  thirty- 
second  article,  and  a  change 
in  the  basis  of  representation  in 
both  Houses;  and  a  modification  of 
the  property  qualification  in  cer- 
tain particulars;  but  leaving  un- 
touched that  of  fifty  acres  of  land 
for  the  State  Senate 

Such  was  the  convention  of  1835. 
Its  work  was  only  half  done;  and 
what  was  done  served  only  to  stim- 
ulate further  inquiry  into  the  true 
causes  of  popular  discontent  and 
the  general  depression.  England 
had  already  passed  her  great  Re- 
form Bill  three  years   before;  and 


HISTORY  OF  THE 


the  general  agitation  went  on  here. 
But  soon  two  other  events  followed 
each  other  in  quick  suseeasioo,  and 
with  such  startling  results,  as  for 
the  time,  to  override  all  else  These 
ware  the 

WILD    SPECULATIONS    OF     1836    AND    THE 
PANIC    CF    1837 

The  overthrow  by  Gen.  Jackson 
of  the  "United  States  Bank",  and 
the  rapid  growth  of  the  "Pet  State 
Banks"  soon  flooded  the  country 
with  a  "redundant  depreciated  cur- 
rency ".  Everybody  now  ran  fairly 
wild  with  speculation,  especially  in 
public  lands  Then  came  the  inevi- 
table "Panic  of  1837"— exceeding 
anything  ever  eeen  in  the  United 
States  before  or  since. 

So  great  W83  the  re-action  that  it 
swept  the  old  Hickory -VanBuren 
Democracy  from  power  in  the  "Log 
Cabin,  Ooon  Skin,  Hard  Cider/' 
cs  mpaign  of  1840,  and  landed  in  the 
white  house  "Old  Tip  and  Tyler 
too  ."  The  death  of  Harrison  in  less 
than  a  month,  yave  the  whole  coun- 
try the  "Tyler  Grip"  for  well  nigh 
full  four  years:  and  no  people  suf- 
fered like  North  Carolina  during 
those  troublous  times.  In  the  flush 
days  of  1835  and  1836,  many  of  the- 
more  enterprising  slave  holders 
moved  to  the  rich  cotton  lands  of 
Alabama,  Mississippi,  and  Arkansas, 
while  thousands  of  the  hardy,  self- 
reliant  and  spirited  non-slave  hol- 
ders rushed  to  the  inviting  North- 
west. It  was  then  that  Oaleb  B. 
Smith,  a  member  of  Congress  from 
Indiana,  told  a  member  of  Congress 
from  North  Carolina,  that  fully  one- 


third  of  his  constituents  were  North 
Carolinians,  or  of  North  Carolina 
descent 

THE  DBuDHGHT  OF  1845  AND  A  CHAR- 
LOTTE  RAILROAD 

As  if  all  this  was  not  enough 
to  depopulate  and  exhaust  the 
distracted  and  divided  old  State, 
in  1845  occurred  the  most 
fearful  drought  ever  experienced 
through  tue  Piedmont  region.  It 
wa»  so  marked  in  its  effects  as  to 
somewhat  prepare  the  public  all 
over  the  State  for  a  fair  discussion 
of  our  sectional  differences,  and  also 
the  absolute  necessity  of  some  sys- 
tem of  railroad  connection  between 
the  E  ist  and  the  West  In  the  win- 
ter of  1845-46  corn  rose  in  many 
partB  of  West  North  Carolina  from 
fifty  cents  to  one  dollar  and  a  half 
a  bushel.  Much  stock  perished  for 
want  of  food,  and  hardly  could 
bread  or  meat  be  had  at  any  price. 
At  the  same  time,  all  through  the 
East,  corn  was  rotting  in  the  field, 
and  fish  was  used  to  manure  land. 

About  this  same  time,  during 
these  scarce  years  of  1845-'46,  the 
leading  men  of  Charlotte  began  to 
agitate  a  connection  with  the  rail- 
road system  of  South  Carolina,  then 
approaching  this  section  through 
both  Camden  and  Columbia.  Steps 
were  taken  for  a  convention  to  or- 
ganize a  company  for  that  purpose, 
and  this  was  done  in  the  summer  fo 
1847,  ultimately  selecting  Columbia 
as  the  point. 

Also  Richmond,  Ya.  was  extend- 
ing her  railroad  system  so  as  to 
reach  our  border  counties  on  the 
North. 


NORTH  CAROLINA  RAILROAD. 


THE  RIP    VAN  WINKLE    OF  THE    SOUTH 

But  in  all  this,  there  was  no  hope 
for  the  redemption  of  North  Caro- 
lina herself  There  was  no  railroad 
west  cf  Raleigh  AH  the  roads  east 
of  Raleigh  had  become  embar- 
rassed *nd  seemed  to  have  no  f u- 
ture.  The  amend  6d4Gon*>titution  of 
1835  had  not  operated  to  quiet  ag- 
itation, or  to  inspire  hope.  On  the 
contrary,  the  very  abJe  debates  of 
1834-5  had  rather  tended  to  in 
crease  the  discontent  by  fully  ex- 
posing the  inequalities  of  our  whole 
State  government  It  was  not  a 
free  and  equal  government  in  the 
American  tense.  The  State  was  lag- 
gard in  every  thing.  An  eminent 
aouth  Carolina  Senator  had  openly 
twitted  her  as  the  "Rip  Van  Win- 
kle of  the  South,"  and  her  devoted 
Gaston  had  written  "The  Old  North 
State  Forever,"  virtually  admitting 
the  justice  of  the  taunt. 

1848 — FREE   BUFFBAGE A    STATE     CAM- 
PAIGN, 

This  year,  1848,  was  an  epoch  in 
the  Nineteenth  Century.  On  Feb- 
ruary 22nd,  1848,  a  tmall  outbreak 
at  a  banquet  in  Paris  had  brought 
on  a  conflict  that  made  France  a 
Republic,  and  shook  half  the  thrones 
of  Europe.  The  Mexican  war  had 
made  new  issues  in  America,  and 
the  whole  civilized  world  seemed  to 
awake  to  the  mighty  impulses  of  the 
age.  But  here  in  North  Carolina 
an  artful  politician  was  laying  his 
plans  to  draw  his  people  from  the 
whirlpool  of  national  politics,  and 
plunge  them  into  one  of  local  sec- 
tional strife,  so  much  dreaded  by 


all  classes  of  citizens;  and  be  stirred 
up  an  agitation  wonderful  in  itB  re- 
sults 

In  1844,  James  Knox  Polk  had 
beaten  Henry  Clay  »nd  so  restored 
the  Democracy  to  Federal  power. 
But  North  Carolina  remained  true 
to  the  WhiRs,  and  in  1847  Gov. 
Wm.  A.  Graham  had  carried  the 
State  against  Jsmes  B  Shep- 
ard  an  Eastern  man,  by  a 
largely  increased  majority  Pros- 
pects looked  so  bad  for  the 
Democrats  that  no  one  cared  to 
make  a  canvass  that  was  attended 
with  so  much  personal  labor  and 
exposure;  such  as  had  already  cauB- 
ed  the  death  of  two  of  their  best 
leaders— one  of  them  in  1844,  the 
lamented  Michael  Hoke,  in  the 
very  prime  of  life;  In  this  emer- 
gency the  Hon.  David  S.  Reid,  an 
numble  member  of  Congress  from 
the  Rockingham  District,  appeared 
in  the  field  on  a  distinatly  new  State 
issue,  dubbed,  "Free  Suffrage:" 
and  which,  it  was  charged  at  the 
time,  the  Editor  o?  the  famous  Dem- 
ocratic organ  in  Raleigh,  the  North 
Carolina  Standard,  had  managed  to 
get  into  the  party  platform,  much 
against  the  wishes  of  the  party  lea- 
ders. Nor  is  it  clear  how  the  Hon. 
Mr.  Reidcame  to  adopt  such  a  side- 
issue,  in  a  great  national  cam- 
paign, as  that  then  pending,  with  a 
united  party,  and  an  acceptable 
candidate— Gen.  Case,  at  its  head. 
But  certain  it  is,  that  it  proved  a 
master  stroke  of  bold  political  wis- 
dom, and  soon  changed  the 
party  character  of  the  State — 
finally      made      Reid      Governor 


HISTORY  OF  THE 


and  then  United  States  Senator,  and 
gave  the  State  permanently  to  the 
Democracy.  As  a  master  of  fact, 
nwing  to  tbe  local  sectional  trou- 
bles between  the  East  and  the 
Weft.,  the  leaders  of  both  parties 
had  long  sought  to  avoid  State 
issues  and  trust  rather  to  National 
to  pica  for  popular  discussion.  But 
the  story  is,  that  after  the  great 
« Popular  Sovereignty  Leater," 
Judge  Douglas,  began  paying  at 
tentioo  to  Miss  Martin,  of  Rocking- 
ham, N  0 ,  and  making  occasional 
visit'  here,  he  was  amezed  to  find 
ho  much  of  both  Old  England  and 
New  England  '  fogyism"  still  per- 
vading our  organic  law,  and  that  he 
singled  out  the  "fifty  acre  qualifica- 
tion" for  voters  for  the  Senate,  as  a 
text  on  which  a  proper  leader  could 
carry  all  before  him.  His  kinsman 
and  friend  adopted  exactly  this 
course  Reid  was  not  a  popular 
orator;  the  Whig  candidate,  Charles 
Manly,  was  vary  sprightly  and 
attractive;  and  at  first  seemed  to 
oarry  all  before  him.  He  ridi 
ouled  the  '-hobby,"  and  he  often 
was  cheered  alike  by  Eastern  Dem- 
ocrats and  Whigs,  many  of  whom 
still  clung  with  tenacity  to  the  work 
of  the  Fathers  of  1776  But  when 
the  votes  were  counted  out  on  the 
first  Thursday  in  August,  as  was 
then  the  law  in  State  elections,  the 
Whig  majority  had  fallen  from 
many  thousand  to  a  few  hundred. 
In  the  next  race  for  Governor,  1850, 
the  same  candidates  were  nominat- 
ed, and  again  made  the  canvass. 
But  Manly  now  changed  his  tone, 
treated  the  questions  seriously,  and 


even  triV'i  to  go  further  than  the 
"Radical  David  "  He  advocated  the 
election  of  Magistrates,  Judges,  and 
all  State  orficials  by  the  people  But 
the  latter  saw  the  dodgy,  and  stuck 
to  Reid  And  so  Reid  and  "Free 
Suffrage"  triumphed  together.  The 
constitution  was  changed  by  Legis- 
lative enactment, '  and  at  the  ballot 
box,  at  least,  all  white  men  stood 
equal  before  the  law 

LIGHT    BREAKING MIS?    DIX    AND    HER 

MISSION 

In  all  the  canvass  of  1848  and  in 
all  the  discussions  of  that  memora 
ble  year,  here  in  North  Carolina 
scarcely  anything  was  said  about 
schemes  of  internal  improvement; 
and  least  of  all,  about  a  great  Cen- 
tral Railroad  The  Whigs  honestly 
wanted  something  of  the  kind;  but 
they  were  half  hearted,  and  feared 
party  lose.  The  Democrats,  as  a 
rule,  did  not  favor  State  aid,  and 
hated  all  talk  about  "State  Reform  " 
And  as  the  Historian  Moore,  him- 
self an  Eastern  Democrat,  well  puts 
it:  They  said,  "If  the  West  want 
Railroads,  let  them  build  them 
themselves  " 

But  the  moment  men  got  to  think- 
ing, and  were  allowed  free  debate, 
the  scales  fell  from  their  eyes.  And 
then  the  true  leaders  began  to  see 
the  long  night  of  "Rip- Van-Winkle- 
ism,"  already  illumed  with  the  hope 
of  a  coming  dawn.  But  as  yet  no 
one  man  had  spoken  out,  and  there 
was  no  plan  of  action.  On  the 
contrary,  the  appearances  were  all 
exceedingly  unfavorable  to  any  con- 
certed plan  of  action. 


NORTH  CAROLINA  RAILROAD. 


T:s 


But  during  the  Fall  of  1818  Miss 
Dorothea  L  Dix  came  South  on  her 
wonderful  work  in  behalf  of  the 
iDsane.  There  was  then  no  Bail- 
road  in  all  the  rich  Piedmont  seo 
tioo,  West  of  the  line  extending 
from  Richmond,  Virginia,  to  Au- 
gusta, Georgia,  and  she  had  to 
make  her  way  in  lumbering  stage 
ooaohes  as  best  she  oould  from 
point  to  point  and  then  from  oounty 
to  county  in  hired  vehicles,  over 
rough  dirt  roads,  in  order  to  exam 
ine  the  jails  and  poor  houses,  where 
the  destitute  insane  were  then  kept. 
Her  object,  of  course,  was  to  get 
plain  facts,  and  so  lay  the  truth  be- 
fore the  several  legislatures,  she 
was  here  in  Charlotte  at  one  of  our 
fall  courts,  when  John  W.  Eliis,  the 
young  Democratic  leader  from 
Rowan,  myself  and  other  members- 
elect  to  the  General  Assembly  called 
on  her.  She  received  like  attentions 
all  through  the  State,  and  when  she 
finally  reached  Raleigh,  and  began 
to  give  out  the  facts,  good  people 
were  simply  horrified  at  the  report 
she  stood  prepared  to  make.  The 
helpless  beings  were  not  only  often 
confined,  on  slight  charges,  and 
frequently  loaded  with  clanking 
chains,  all  on  the  idea  then  com- 
monly prevailing  here,  of  there 
being  no  other  practicable  mode  of 
treatment;  but  the  jails  and  poor- 
houses  themselves  were  horrid  to 
look  upon— almost  invariably  filled 
with  filth  and  stench,  and  the  occu- 
pants often  indiscriminately  crowd- 
ed together. 

This  was  with  Miss  Dix  no  mere 
sentiment,  and  she  seemed  to  de 


spise  affectation  in  any  call  to  high 
Christian  duty.  Every  thought  was 
based  on  sound  sense  and  direct 
business  methods  Her  name  was 
already  world  wide — her  fame  ri 
valing  that  of  Howard  and  Romilly. 
She  touched  incidentally,  and  with- 
out the  least  offense,  the  general 
backwardness  of  the  State,  a  State 
at  once  so  desirable  to  live  in,  and 
so  in  need  of  development.  The 
papers  had  little  to  say,  but  intelli- 
gent men  and  women  of  all  classes 
and  all  seotions  saw  a  crisis  was 
upon  us.  If  the  work  of  Progress 
and  Reform  was  onoe  entered  upon, 
there  was  no  limit  to  the  demands 
upon  the  cash  and  credit  of  the 
State,  not  then  what  it  now  is,  nor 
what  it  soon  became  under  the  im- 
pulse of  the  bold  legislation  of  the 
memorable  session  then  near  at 
hand.  Still  there  was  no  intimation 
of  any  given  line  of  movement,  or 
even  a  chance  of  departure  from 
the  traditional  "doigingdo-nothing 
polioy."  Worse  still,  there  was  no 
money  in  the  treasury,  and  the 
treasurer's  report  then  showed  the 
whole  State  revenue  for  general  pur- 
poses was  only  the  pitiful  sum  of 
of  $96,000;  a  less  sum  by  half 
than  Charlotte  and  Mecklenburg 
oounty  now  annually  collect  and 
pay  out.  But  here  was  this  heroic 
woman  asking,  at  one  swoop,  fully 
$100,000! 
And  now  to  the  battle. 

THE   LEGISLATIVE    SESSION    OF    1848-'9. 

The  two  Houses  met  November 
20th,  1848  Party  feeling  ran  high. 
Taylor  had  been  elected  President, 


H 


HISTORY  OF  THE 


and  Manly  had  carried  the  State; 
but  che  latter  by  so  small  a  majority 
as  to  point  to  the  ultimate  triumph 
of  "Little  Davia"  and  the  "Free 
Suffrage  Democracy",  if  only  the 
party  harness  could  be  kept  in  or- 
der, and  well  in  place  But  here 
again  was  a  singular  coincident: 
Each  house  was  just  evenly  tied; 
and  each  had  several  contested 
seats;  and  the  famous  one  of  Wad- 
dell  against  Berry,  from  Orange, 
actually  extending  through  six 
weeks.  What  chance  for  Railroads 
and  Lunatic  Asylums  in  such  a 
bodj! 

After  a  few  days'  balloting  the 
Whigs  got  the  Commons,  with  the 
generous,  conciliating  Robert  B. 
Gilliam,  of  the  strong  slave  county 
of  Granville,  for  Speaker;  and  the 
Democrats  secured  the  Senate,  with 
the  unyielding,  unfaltering,  ever  re- 
liable Oalvin  Graves  from  the  no 
less  negro  county  of  Oaswell,  as 
their  Speaker  and  leader. 

Gov.  Wm.  A.  Graham  was  the  re- 
tiring Executive,  and  in  his  last 
message,  he  g&ve  account  of  the 
deplorable  condition  of  both  the 
State  and  the  people.  He  frankly 
admitted  that  -'the  transportation 
facilities  were  the  worst  of  any  State 
in  the  Union "  The  Raleigh  and 
Gaston  Railroad  had  utterly  broken 
down,  and  was  near  a  stand-still; 
the  Wilmington  and  Weldon  was 
threatened  with  default;  and  the 
State  in  the  lurch  for  both !  He 
cordially  commended  Miss  Dix  and 
her  mission  to  the  earnest  consider- 
ation of  the  members;  but  even  he 


could    not    yet    recommend    State 
aid. 

Still  Gov.  Graham  did  advise  a 
sort  of  prospective  line  of  railroad 
from  Raleigh  to  Salisbury,  and  then 
to  be  extended  on  to  Charlotte,  and 
ultimately  connect  with  the  road  ap- 
proaching that  point  from  Charles- 
ton and  Columbia  For  this  pro- 
posed line  he  advised  a  limited  State 
aid,  but  it  was  mainly  to  serve  and 
save  the  dilapidated  Raleigh  and 
Gaston  Hue,  acd  eo  protect  the  State 
from  expected  loss  Aud  it  was 
pointedly  objected  that  the  first 
and  immediate  effect  of  such  a  line 
would  only  be  to  build  up  towns 
and  cities  out  of  the  State,  with 
a  mere  chance  of  an  Eastern  exten- 
sion, thereafter,  as  suggested  by  the 
Governor  William  A.  Graham, 
however,  was  the  one  man 
that  then  and  at  all  times  repre- 
sented the  beat  conservative  pro- 
gress of  the  State;  and  if  this  was 
all  he  and  his  followers  had  to  offer, 
the  prospects  were  gloomy  enough. 

THE  'DANVILLE  CONNECTION:"  A  LION    IN 
THE   WAY. 

But  it  also  speedily  turned  out 
that,  in  anticipation  of  the  City  of 
Richmond  extending  one  of  its  nu- 
merous railroad  lines  on  to  Dan- 
ville, upon  our  Northern  border, 
the  Charlotte  and  South  Carolina 
Railroad  Company  would  carry  their 
Road  right  on  through  the  State; 
and  would  do  this  without  a  dollar 
of  public  money — State  or  County. 
They  asked  only  a  "naked  charter." 
Then,  what  made  matters  doubly 
complicated    was     the     fact    that 


NORTH  CAROLINA  RAILROAD. 


every  member  along  this  pro- 
posed "Danville  Connection"  from 
Mecklenburg  to  Rockingham,  stood 
prepared  to  fight  to  the  very  end 
for  thid  "Naked  Charter." 

Mr  Ellis,  cf  Rowan,  had  charge 
of  the  bill,  and  the  same  was  intro- 
duce! the  very  day  after  the  organ- 
ization of  the  Assembly. 

Tae  most  determined,  ever  ready, 
outspoken  opponent  of  the  "Dan- 
ville Connection"  was  the  Hon.  Ed- 
ward Stanly,  member  of  the  House 
from  the  couaty  of  Beaufort,  in  the 
extreme  East.  He  was  an  ex-mem- 
ber of  Congress — of  some  repute, 
and  easily  led  the  Whigs.  He  was 
an  intense  partisan,  but  was  always 
a  generous  foe.  Ha  indulged  in  no 
demagogism;  did  not  make  set 
speeches;  rarely  published  one,  and 
never  "spoke  for  Buncombe  "  His 
position  was  a  peculiar  one.  No 
railroad  talked  of  or  contemplated 
was  likely  to  reacn  his  home  of  "Lit- 
tle Washington;"  nor  did  he  have 
any  scheme  of  his  own  to  embarrass 
him.  He  therefore  stood  forth  as  a 
bold  and  really  honest  advocate  for 
any  really  good  North  Carolina  sys- 
tem that  would  likely  build  up  our 
own  State.  This  attitude  gave  great 
weight  to  all  he  said.  He  boldly 
avowed  his  purpose  to  fight,  in 
every  conceivable  way,  what  he 
called  the  "Danville  Sale  "  "But," 
he  would  often  say,  "the  friends  of 
this  South  Carolina  and  Virginia 
bondage  were  not  to  blame,  so  long 
as  the  North  Carolina  Assembly 
failed  to  give  her  people  a  real 
North    Carolina     system."    '"This 


failing,"    he    said,    "I,  too,  go  for 
Danville  " 

Meantime,  a  bill  embodying  Gov. 
Graham's  plan  had  been  intro- 
duced, but  had  no  strength.  And 
yet  all  agreed  "that  something  must 
be  done,"  and  there  was  a  general 
demand  for  an  advance  movement 
all  along  the  line  of  modern  pro- 
gress. 

In  the  midst  of  all  this  doubt  and 
despondency,  the  Hon.  James  0. 
Dobbin,  of  Cumberland,  the  leader 
of  the  Liberal  Democracy,  appeared 
in  the  House  from  the  death  bed  of 
his  wife,  and  in  the  spirit  of  her  last 
request  made  the  speech  of  the  ses- 
sion in  favor  of  a  State  Asylum 
President  Swain  too  had  come  down 
from  Chapel  Hill,  and  asked  in  the 
name  of  the  young  men  of  the  State 
soma  hope  of  progress.  Miss  Dix 
herself  consented  to  appear  before 
the  House  She  entered,  lean- 
ing on  the  arm  of  the  President 
of  the  noble  State  University,  then 
just  rallying  from  a  painful  struggle 
of  over  fifty  years.  All  this  waB 
more  than  even  the  "Hard  Shell 
Democrats"  could  stand.  The  Dix 
Bill  passed  by  101  to  10  in  the 
House. 

This  measure,  of  course,  had  no 
connection  with  Railroads,  and  yet 
the  friends  of  the  railroad  all  brea- 
thed freer.  At  last,  one  advance 
step  had  been  taken,  and  at  last,  a 
breach  had  been  made  in  the  solid, 
eerried  ranks  of  an  Old  Fogy,  State 
Sectionalism,  and  a  narrow-mis* 
called  Jeffersonian  Democracy.  Miss 
Dix  alludes  to  this  in  letters  at  the 
time. 


i6 


HISTORY  OF  THE 


Immediately  every  body  went  to 
work  to  get  up  bills  for  some  new 
measure;  Short  Line  Railroads, 
Canals,  Turnpikes,  water-waye,PJank 
Roads,  Law  Reform?,  Bights  of  Mar- 
ried Women,  and  hundreds  of  other 
bills  poured  in.  Bat  no  one  dared 
to  tackle  a  regular  Railroad  System, 
requiting  millions  cf  State  money. 
At  ,last  the  Hon.  W.  8.  Ashe,  the 
Democratic  Senator  from  New  Han- 
over, later  a  member  of  Congress, 
and  in  after  years  President  of  the 
Wilmington  and  Weldon  Railroad, 

Si  urged  to  formulate  a  plan. 
Ir.  Ashe  came  from  a  town  that 
t  did  not  have  faith  in  Beaufort 
Harbor.  Her  keen-witted  W.  B. 
Meares  had  hit  a  commercial  Bnag 
long  before,  when  he  said,  "It  storms 
at  Beaufort  365  day  a  in  the  year" 
Mr  Ashe's  bill  was  a  plain  business 
Bcheme.  It  proposed  the  begin- 
ning of  a  sort  of  North  Garolina 
system.  This  called  for  two  mil- 
lions ol  Slate  money  to  build  a  rail- 
road from  Charlotte  to  Goldsboro, 
two  hundred  and  twenty  five  miles, 
provided  one  million  of  stock  was 
otherwise  taken.  It  left  out  for  the 
present  the  Baleigh  and  Gaston  re- 
lief idea;  and  all  '•Buncombe9' about 
both  Beaufort  Harbor  and  the  Duck 
Town  copper  mines  of  Cherokee. 
This,  of  course,  tended  at  first  to 
weaken  the  bill;  but  the  wisest  men 
easily  saw  that  the  line  was  a  good 
one;  that  it  would  gain  strength  on 
its  own  merit;  and  more,  by  not  at 
tempting  too  much. 

Still  no  one  attempted  to  lead  off 
for  the  Ashe  bill.  So,  at  last,  the 
friends  of  the    "Danville    Connec- 


tion" resolved  to  renew  ,  the 
fight,  for  their  "naked  charter.?  But 
Mr.  EIHb,  wbo  had  charge  of  the 
"Danville  Bill."  had  been  made  a 
Judge.,  and  things  were  all  at  sea 
and  our  councils  much  divided  On 
the^fifteenth  of  January,  1849,  we 
go!;  our  Danville  Bill  up;  and  Mr. 
Stanly,  as  usual,  was  baffling  every 
effort  to  get  a  vote.  I  chanced  to 
get  the  floor,  and  resolved  to  hold 
it  till  a  vote  was  reached  in  some 
form.  Mr.  Stanly  interfered  with 
his  regular  taunts  about  selling  out 
to  Virginia  and  South  Carolina,  and 
referred  to  Richmond  as  only  a 
"Great  Slave  Mart,"  and  to  Charles- 
ton aB  "surviving  solely  on  pas 
pretentions."  This  I  resented  and 
defied  him  to  make  us  an  offer  of 
any  Bill  providing  for  a  general 
North  Carolina  System,  likely  to 
pass,  and  with  sufficient  State  »id 
to  secure  its  completion,  and  I, 
for  one,  would  vote  for  it;  and  that 
I  believed  a  large  majority  of  my 
"Danville"  comrades  would  do  the 
same.  This  was  received  with  some 
applause  by  the  main  body  of  my 
"Danville"  friends.  But  the  Meck- 
lenburg and  Rockingham  members 
loudly  protested.  I  now  felt  bold 
to  repeat  the  pledge  of  the 
Danville  Charter  people  to  any 
fair  and  feasible  North  Carolina 
System.  Ihis  was  answered 
by  applause  from  all  parts  of 
the  House,  Mr.Stanly  then  sprung  to 
his  feet  and,  holding  up  the  Ashe 
bill,  said  be  would  pledge  himself 
and  his  Eastern  friends  to  that  bill, 
if  I  would  do  the  same.  I  assented, 
and  Mr.  Stanly  was  about  to  pre- 


NORTH  CAROLINA  RAILROAD. 


t7 


sent  the  Ashe  bill  to  the  House, 
when  a  question  arose  as  to  its 
probable  place  on  the  calendar.  The 
session  was  now  nearly  two  months 
gone,  and  there  was  danger  in 
delay.  Therefore  Mr  Williams,  of 
New  Hanover,  suggested  that  the 
"Danville  Bill"  be  laid  upon  the 
table,  to  enable  some  one  to  take  up 
the  Gov.  Graham  scheme;  also 
known  as  the  "North  Carolina  Rail- 
road Bill",  and  which  was  well  up 
on  the  calendar J This  was  all  done; 
and  I,  still  holding  the  floor,  the 
Journal  shows — page  672  —that 
'Mr.  Barringer  moved  to  strike  out 
all  after  the  enacting  clause  and  to 
insert  in  lieu  thereof  a  substitute." 
This  substitute  was  the  "Ashe  Bill" 
The  next  day  Mr.  H.  0.  Jones,  Sr., 
who  had  now  arrived,  as  the  suc- 
cessor of  Judge  Ellis,  from  Rowan, 
moved  to  insert  in  the  Ashe 
bill  the  several  sections  of  the 
Graham  bill  to  revive  the  Raleigh  & 
Gaston  road;  and  Mr.  Wadsworth,  of 
Graven,  moved  to  insert  like  pro* 
visions  for  opening  the  Neuse  river 
from  Goldsboro  to  New  Bern  So 
the  North  Carolina  Railroad  bill, 
thus  amended.came  up  on  its  second 
reading  and  was  rejected  by  a  vote 
of  forty -nine  to  fifty- six  But  to 
those  familiar  with  the  actual  feel- 
ing of  the  House,  the  result  was  not 
discouraging  The  usual  motion 
was  made  to  reconsider,  and  on  the 
17th  it  passed  its  second  reading — 
sixty  to  forty -nine  I  Now  came  an- 
other scramble  for  amendments, 
some  to  make  the  bill  mora  accept- 
able in  certain  particulars,  others  to 
get  in  local  improvements  for  which 


particular  members  were  now  anx- 
ious; and  still  others,  to  so  load  it 
down  with  State  aid  as  to  defeat  it 
either  here  or  in  the  Senate.  These 
were  generally  voted  down,  and 
thus  lost  us  a  few  weak  supporters. 
And  finally  the  third  reading  was 
set  for  the  18th,  when  it  passed — 
sixty  to  fifty-two;  the  Mecklen- 
burg and  Rockingham  delegates 
still  voting  solid  against  it;  D.  W. 
Courts  and  T.  W.  K9en  from  the 
latter,  and  N.  J.  Harrison,  J  N. 
Davis  and  J.  J.  Williams  from  Meck- 
lenburg. 

THE  BILL  IN  THE  SENATE  A  TIE 3PEAKEB 

GRAVES. 

The  chances  in  the  Senate  were 
all  in  doubt.  That  body  was  Damo- 
oratio:  and  up  to  this  time,  no 
special  effort  had  been  made  to 
draw  the  old  ship  from  its  Jeffer 
sonian  moorings.  And  such  men 
as  Henry  W.  Cannon,  John  H  Drake, 
A.  B.  Hawkins,  John  Berry,  George 
Bower,  W.  D.  Bethel,  George  W 
Thompson,  and  John  Walker  were 
hard  to  lead  and  could  not  be 
driven.  And  above  them  all  sat 
Speaker  Calvin  Graves,  a  recognized 
force  from  a  county  just  under 
the  nose  of  Danville,  and  devoted  to 
Richmond.  The  speaker  was  tall, 
angular,  and  singularly  ugly  in 
feature:  but  his  character  was  high; 
he  was  strictly  inpartial,  and  with 
all  courtesy  in  bearing.  From  first 
to  lest  no  one  could  divine  a  lean- 
ing either  way.  But  now  a  mighty 
effort  was  made  to  teach  these  born 
men  of  the  plow  and  of  the  people 
a  new  tenet  of  Republican  faith,  a 


l8 


HISTORY  OP  THE 


to  what  the  State  owed  the  public. 
Judge  Romalus  M  Sanders  and  W. 
W.  Holden  both  stepped  forward 
and  made  strong  appeals  for  the 
new  departure.  But  all  to  no  pur- 
pose And  then  some  of  the 
Whigs,  left  out  by  the  Ashe 
Bill,  stood  aloof.  From  t^ese  and 
other  oauses^it  was  seen  from  day 
to  day,  that  in  all  the  preliminary 
skirmishes,  as  also  in  the  final  strug- 
gle, the  result  would  be  vezy  close, 
and  that  all  might  hang  on  the 
"Baptist  Enigma,"  Calvin  Graves. 

By  consent,  the  first  and  second 
readings  were  chiefly  formal,  to  get 
the  measure  in  shape,  and  to  secure 
all  sides  and  parties  a  just  showing. 
This  was  after  the  old  style,  quiet, 
North  Carolina  way,  when,  as  a 
hundred  years  before,  Dissenters 
and  Churchman  were  alike  honoring 
King,  Queen  and  Boyal  Governor 
by  naming  towns,  counties  and 
mountain  peaks  after  them,  but  at 
the  same  time,  solemnly  resolved  to 
hurl  them  instantly  from  power  "if 
they  did  not  do  exactly  the  fair 
thing"  So,  here,  every  courtesy 
was  shown  opposing  parties  and  in- 
terests until  January  25  th,  when  the 
bill  came  regularly  up,  after  full 
debate,  and  w»s  put  on  its  third  and 
final  reading  The  Senate  chamber 
was  packed  with  visitors  and 
strangers  from  all  quarters  to  see 
the  fate  of  the  momentous  struggle, 
now  so  full  of  weal  or  woe  to 
the  dear  "Old  North  State," 
and  which  might  settle  here 
once  for  all  the  mighty  ef- 
fort to  awake  North  Carolina  from 
the  long  sleep    of  her  death-like 


"Rip-Van  Winfeleism" 

Speaker  Graves  calmly  announc- 
ed: "The  Bill  to  charter  the  North 
Carolina  Railroad  Company  and  for 
other  purposes  is  now  upon  its  third 
reading.  Is  the  Senate  ready  for 
the  question?"  Feeble  responses  said, 
'Question."  The  roll  call  began ; 
and  as  feared,  nearly  every  Demo- 
crat voted  "No."  The  tally  was  kept 
by  hundreds,  and  when  the  clerk 
announced  twenty-two  yeas  and 
twenty- two  nays,  there  was  an 
awful  silence  The  slender  form  of 
Speaker  Graves  stood  up,  and  lean- 
ing slightly  forward,  with  gavel  in 
hand;  he  said:  "The  vote  on  the 
Bill  being  equal,  22  yeas  and  22 
nays,  the  Chair  votes  Yea.  The  Bill 
has  passed  its  third  and  l^sfc  read- 
ing. 

I  have  seen  and  read  of  many 
memorable  and  famous  contests,  and 
have  witnessed  many  out  breaks  of 
popular  applause;  but  never  any- 
thing like  that  then  following  Even 
the  granite  Capitol  seemed  to  shake 
for  joy  But  this  wbb  not  all  There 
was  teen  no  electric  telegraph 
in  North  Carolina;  no  express 
lines;  no  mail  delivery;  but 
immediately,  every  man  and  woman, 
every  boy  and  girl,  became  a  sort  of 
message  bearer.  News  was  hastened 
in  every  possible  way  to  every  nook 
and  corner  of  the  Old  Common- 
wealth, and  the  one  phrase  was : 
"Speaker  Graves  has  saved  the 
State — the  Railroad  bill  has 
passed." 

AFTEB  CONTESTS  AND     INCIDENTS. 

Here  really  ends  the  "Historic 
Struggle"  for  the  North  Carolina- 


NORTH  CAROLINA  RAILROAD. 


i  i 


Railroad  All  tubstquent  events 
were  mere  incidents  in  the  develop- 
ment of  a  modern  transportation 
system.  And  some  of  these  were  : 
The  peculiar  canvas*  for  raising  the 
million  of  private  stock;  the  efforts 
to  repeal  the  charter  at  the  nest 
session  of  1850-1  ;the  grant  of  an 
other  million  of  State  aid;  the 
spread  of  the  spirit  for  improvement 
all  over  the  State;  the  extensions 
both  East  and  West;  the  renewal  of 
the  application  for  a  charter  for  the 
"Danville  Connection;"  its  refusal 
in  1858,  sad  its  grant  and  building 
1861-4;  th-a  effect  of  the  Richmond 
and  Danville  System;  and  the 
Lease  to  that  System  -  these 
were  all  important  features, 
and  invoked  sharp  contests. 
But  they  are  all  common  p' ace, 
compared  with  the  long  sectional 
struggle  that  kepb  North  Carolina 
poor  and  purssless  for  nearly  thre3- 
fourtha  of  a  century,  and  then  sud- 
denly came  to  an  end  in  the  Historic 
Epoch  of  1848,  by  the  grant  of  the 
Charter  of  the  "Great  Forth  Caro- 
lina Railroad",  and  which  has  had 
the  effect  of  making  us  one  people, 
and  started  us,  at  last,  on  the  sure 
ground  of  Industrial  Progress  and 
Commercial  Success.  The  extension 
of  the  lease  of  our  great  central 
line  may  now  be  an  open  question, 
to  stand  on  its  own  merits.1  But  its 
clear  effect,  originally,  was  to  give 
North  Carolina  a  leading  North 
and  South  through  line;  and  now 
we  have  no  less  than  four  North 
and  South  through  lines;  and  vir- 
tually three  East  and  West  lines, 
snaking  a  real  net- work  of  roads;  and 


reaching  almost  every  corner  of  the 
State. ;  In  my  judgment,  the  begin- 
ning of  all  this  wonderful  life  and 
activity  had  its  hope  and  start  in 
the  singular,  striking  "Free  Suf 
frage  Campaign"  of  1848;  but  it 
would  all  have  been  lost,  and  prob- 
ably for  years  to  come,  had  it  not 
been  for  the  high  patriotism,  for 
the  wonderful  force  of  charac- 
ter of  that  plain  North  Carolina 
gentleman  and  Christian  statesman, 
Calvin  Graves,  of  G&sweU  I  hap- 
pen to  know  that  Mr.  Graves  was 
appealed  to  on  every  side  to  follow 
Party  tradition,  even  to  rosentiag 
the  personal  hits  of  Mr.  Stanly,  al- 
ways at  heart  an  anti  slavery  man. 
But  Mr.  Graves  stood  nobly  for 
Duty 

ESROBS  AHD  CORRECTIONS. 

I  might  here  close;  but  I  find 
many  popular  errors  afloat  in  regard 
to  this  great  North  Carolina  work, 
and  I  tnink  that  most  of  them  ca.n 
be  traced  to  loosely-written  Sforth 
Carolina  History.  In  Moore's  North 
Carolina  School  History,  page  206, 
it  i<  stated  that  in  1848 —"Ex-Gov- 
ernor Morehead  and  others  besought 
the  Legislature  for  State  aid  in  a 
great  line  from  Charlotte  to  Golds - 
boro — two  hundred  and  forty  miles 
long:"  And  Cameron,  in  his  North 
Carolina  Handbook,  page  284,  con- 
founds the  North  Carolina  Railroad 
with  the  Atlantic  and  North  Caro- 
lina Railroad,  and  speaks  of  the 
former  as  "undertaken  in  1853." 
Now  the  truth  is  that  in  1848,  Gov. 
Morehead  was,  body  and  soul,  for 
the  Danville  Connection,  Nor  did 
he  ever  give  up  his  first  love  for  that 


HISTORY  OF  THE 


line,  and  es  Hie  as  1858  was  elected 
to  the  Legislature  mainly  to  secure 
the  Danville  Charter 

The  speech  of  his  life  was 
made  in  reply  to  W.  T. 
Dart  oh  and  others,  who  still  clung 
to  the  old-time  sectional  prejudices 
The  charter  was  refused,  bus  the 
war  soon  opened  the  eyes  of  Mr. 
Dsrtoh  and  his  friends 

But  it  is  also  true  that,  in  due 
time,  when  it  was  feared  that  the 
million  of  private  stock  might  not 
be  raisad,  and  so  save  the  charter, 
Gov.  Morehead  came  forward  as  the 
one  man  to  rally  the  masses  to  the 
work  He  did  it,  and  was  made  the 
first  President  of  the  company. 
Then  he  also  went  to  work  to  build 
the  Eastern  Extension  to  Beaufort 
Harbor;  for  long  years  a  sad  failure, 
but  of  late  even  "the  Mullet  Road" 
begins  to  pay.  Such  is  the  remark- 
able effect  of  this  "Great.  Backbone," 
the  North  Carolina  Railroad,  in 
bringing  together  all  the  diverse 
and  diversified  mioresfcs  of  our 
thriving  North  Carolina  population. 

SOBia  EElXIKISOJiNOES  AND  A    PREDICTION. 

At  once,  after  the  charter  was 
granted,  the  people  took  hope. 
They  organized  companies  to  begin 
the  numerous  works  provided  for 
by  the  legislature,  as  opening  up 
rivers,  digging  canals,  building 
turnpikes,  plank  roads,  &c,  &c. 
Emigration  from  the  State  was  meas- 
urably stopped,  and  a  large  body  of 
Bmali  slave  holders— our  most  enter- 
prising class — soon  sprang  up  in  all 
parts  of  the  State.  Better  still,  the 
mechanic  arts  were  once  more  re- 
vived under  the  ad  valorem  Walker 


tariff  of  1846  An  old  uncle  of  mine 
had  about  a  dczen  slaves,  and  nearly 
all  were  trained  mechanics,  choice 
cooks,  etc.  But  wilh  all  this  there 
was  as  yet  no  surplus  money  in 
North  Carolina,  nor  was  there  any 
such  device  as  a  "Cons  ruction  Com- 
pany" in  those  primitive  timee  in 
North  Carolina  Up  to  January  1, 
1850,  the  million  of  private  stock 
had  not  been  secured,  and  there  was 
talk  o(  'repeal"  as  a  campaign  ory 
in  the  coaiing  election.  Gertaiu 
liberal  gentlemen  agreed  to  resume 
the  remaining  stock,  and  called  a 
meeting  for  organization  at  Salis- 
bury July  11,  1850,  and  trust  to  the 
immense  assembly  then  gathered  to 
relieve  them  Moreheacs  and  many 
other  eloquent  speakers  were  heard. 
But  &.11  without  real  eff  act.  At  last, 
old  Ms.  William  Boyian,  of  Raleigh 
mounted  the  stand  and  said:  "This 
morning  I  happened  to  recall  that 
when  I  was  a  boy,  the  "spelling 
books'  and  'Geographies'  all  said  that 
the  main  staples  of  North  Carolina 
were  "tar,  pitch  and  turpentine," 
and  1  asked  to  see  one  of  the  new 
books  to  find  if  there  was  any 
change  They  brought  it  to  me, 
and  there  were  the  same  old  pic- 
tures !  My  friends,  I  want  to  see 
this  changed;  and  that,  too,  before 
this  feeble  frame  goes  to  its  grave. 
Do  you  say  so?  Shall  it  be  done?" 
This  brought  the  stock  As  instance 
of  noble  response,  Dr.  John  Fink, 
of  Concord,  worth  probably 
$4,000,  took  stock  for  $8,000,  and 
made  it  good;  two  maiden 
ladies  of  Cabarrus,  Betsey  and 
Katy      Burns,      worth      probably 


NORTH  CAROLINA  RAILROAD. 


$2,000  eacb,  took  $1000  each 
And  thus  the  stock  was  at  last 
taken;  the  company  was  then  or 
gsniz^d;  the  surveys  were  duly 
made;  the  line  wae  laid  out  into  four 
main  divisions;  and  it  was  arranged 
to  work  on  all  at  the  same  time. 
Then  on  July  11th  1851,  the  cere- 
mony of  "breaking  ground"  was 
performed  at  Greensboro  by 
Speaker  Oalvin  Graves,  in  the  pres 
ence  of  &n  immense  assemblage.  It 
wus  then  agreed  that  the  entire 
work  should  be  completed,  Jan,  1st 
1856.  This  would  bave  be„n  done, 
but  for  the  scourge  of  Yellow  Fe- 
ver at  Norfolk,  preventing  the  de 
Lvery  of  the  iron.  But  the 
last  spike  was  driven  Jan  29;h 
1866;  and  on  Jan.  30th  1856,  the  first 
train  of  cars  ran  through  the  whole 
length  from  Goidaboro  to  Charlotte, 
223  miles,  making  about  eight  years 
after  the  charter  was  granted. 

To  be  sure  this  was  slow  work, 
oompared  to  later  trans  continental 
achievements.     But  the  results  have 


been  simply  marvellous.  Clou  Id  the 
spirit  of  my  exeellent  friend  Billy 
Boylan  now  return  to  his  native 
State,  he  would  see  on  the  trade 
list  of  the  day  a  greater  variety  of 
articles  from  North  Carolina  than 
from  any  other  State  in  the  Union, 
and  he  would  find  here  more  mills 
and  factories  thau  in  any  other 
Southern  State  And  he  would  see 
the  products  of  the  East  and  the 
Weat  now  daily  interchanged  from 
Wilmington,  Moraheal  City  and 
Nag's  Head  in  the  East,  to  tne 
Cherokee  and  Tennessee  line  in  the 
West 

People  may  well  differ  as  to  the 
authors  of  this  great  North  Caro 
lina  Railroad  measure;  but  to  one 
fact  all  assent:  Had  it  not  been  for 
the  casting  vote  of  Calvin  Graves, 
we  would  probably  be  "Old  Rip" 
still. 

And  now  I  predict :  That  in  ten 
years  she  will  be  the  Empire  State 
of  the  South  Atlantic  slope 


m 


Vf 


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